The present invention relates generally to devices and methods for removing the husks from ears of corn. In particular, it relates to devices and methods for removing husks from sweet corn ears and at the same time preventing substantial damage to the kernels.
One food product that has gained recent popularity is frozen ear corn. Sweet corn may be grown commercially, husked, blanched, frozen and packaged. There are no devices known to the present inventors which mechanically remove substantially all of the husks and at least a portion of the silks from fresh corn ears without causing excessive damage to the kernels and causing the ears to be unacceptable to the consumer.
One device is known which removes only a portion of the husk of fresh sweet corn for the purpose of making the corn ear more appealing to the purchaser. Frankstein et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,816,277 describes a device and method of removing a portion of a husk from an ear of corn to expose a few rows of kernels prior to packaging in transparent film. The method includes cutting transversely and partially through a first end of an ear of corn, removing the stem and attached bottom husk, turning the ear approximately 180 degrees, partially cutting through the opposite end, removing the opposite end and attached husks and trimming off the remaining husks. Removal of the husks during both removing steps includes positioning the ear in a nip formed between two cooperating removal rollers which rotate in opposite directions, and pulling the husks and detached ends through the nip of the adjacent removal rollers.
The husker described in Frankstein et al. removes only a portion of the husk of sweet corn to form a product more appealing in appearance to the consumer. This husker is not capable of removing the entire husk.
Other huskers are known which do not require any cutting of the ends prior to removing the husks. One such device comprises a plurality of closely spaced pairs of rotating rollers, each roller rotating in a direction opposite the direction of travel of an adjacent roller. The rollers are covered with a smooth elastomer and lie in an incline plane. The ears are fed into the top as the rollers are spinning. A combination of the rapid rotation of the rollers and the pulling action in the nip between adjacent rollers rapidly spins the corn ears and tears off the husks and silks. A spray of water is provided which washes the waste material through the nips between rollers. This type of device causes the ears to bounce across the rotating rollers, resulting in mechanical damage to the kernels. Known huskers also apply enough force to the attached husks to pull the ear into the nip, which further damages the kernels. The damage is so great that the quality of the ears husked on such a device is unacceptable for selling the product as corn on the ear. However, huskers of this type are suitable for husking corn which is to be cut off the ear and frozen or canned.